UPDATE Deputy shooting: Killer was wearing bullet proof vest

A camera is pointed at the engine of slain Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Deputy Ricky Del Fiorentino's patrol car Friday afternoon as the investigation of his death continues. An armed fugitive from Eugene, Ore. ambushed the deputy and shot him to death during a search north of Fort Bragg Wednesday.

The memorial service for Mendocino County Sheriff's Office deputy Ricky Del Fiorentino, shot and killed while pursuing an armed suspect north of Fort Bragg Wednesday, moved from Fort Bragg High School to Cotton Auditorium, and will be preceded by a processional.

Meanwhile, details are emerging in the ongoing investigation around the deputy's death, including the fact that the Eugene, Ore. man who ambushed and shot him to death was later found dead with two separate gunshot wounds, according to the MCSO.

The Sheriff's Office on Friday released its account of the events that surrounded the deputy's death on Wednesday, which ended a crime spree that began in Eugene, Ore. when Ricardo Antonio Chaney, 32, was believed to have killed a man and set fire to his home before driving south in a stolen BMW.

Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched at 10:34 a.m. March 19 to a Confusion Hill business at 75001 North Highway 1, in Piercy, regarding an attempted murder.

Responding deputies were told that a suspect described as a white male adult shot at the business owner with a double-barreled shotgun before fleeing southbound on Highway 101 in a vehicle. The vehicle was described as being a black Mazda or BMW 4-door sedan with tinted windows.

Deputies headed north on Highway 101 from Leggett and Willits and on Highway 1 from Fort Bragg.

As they searched for the suspect's car, a deputy interviewed the business owner about the shooting in his business. The business owner told deputies he'd seen the suspect urinating outside the back of the business, which prompted a verbal confrontation.

The suspect was told he needed to leave the property and the business owner walked inside his business. Shortly after that, the business owner said, he saw the suspect walking toward the business holding something in his hand and feared for his safety.

When the suspect walked inside, the business owner hit him with an expandable baton, causing the suspect to discharge the double-barreled shotgun he was holding into the floor.

The business owner ran to a nearby room as the suspect fired the shotgun at him, causing minor injuries from broken glass, and then ran to a black BMW sedan parked outside.

As the suspect was leaving, the business owner walked outside and shot one time at the suspect's car with a pistol he had inside.

The BMW suddenly accelerated and went speeding off, driving recklessly "in an obvious attempt to flee from Lieutenant Stefani who was behind the BMW at that time," according to the MCSO statement. A pursuit ensued with Lt. Stefani losing sight of the BMW several times.

Officers from the Fort Bragg Police Department staged at mile post marker 63.5 and prepared to use a spike-strip to disable the BMW.

The suspect's vehicle never reached the location, however, and officers suspected the car had instead turned onto a surface road north of the area.

Lt. Stefani, Deputy Del Fiorentino and FBPD officers searched the area in their patrol cars, and while searching the Ward Avenue subdivision in Cleone, north of Fort Bragg got a call for help.

"At 11:51 a.m., an 11-99' (officer needs assistance) radio transmission was made with the notification that shots had been fired," the MCSO stated.

The initial investigation suggests Deputy Del Fiorentino was searching the 24000 block of Park Drive in the subdivision "when he encountered the BMW traveling or parked facing ... the front of deputy Del Fiorentino's patrol vehicle from a short distance. The suspect, Ricardo Antonio Chaney, shot into the patrol vehicle multiple times, striking and killing deputy Del Fiorentino."

Chaney was standing near Deputy Del Fiorentino's patrol vehicle at first, and as he exchanged gunfire with Lt. Naulty, began to disappear into a bushy area beside a home along the road.

The gun battle continued and Fort Bragg Police Chief Scott Mayberry drove up behind Naulty's patrol vehicle. He provided cover as the pair began to retreat to a safer position, as Chaney was armed with an assault rifle.

Several law enforcement agencies set up a perimeter while still further resources were sought to help thoroughly search the area for Chaney and a possible second suspect seen running from the shooting scene.

Members of the MCSO's SWAT team arrived sometime thereafter at the shooting scene.

During a search of the scene, Chaney was found a short distance away in the side yard of the home behind the brush line near deputy Del Fiorentino's patrol vehicle. Chaney was pronounced dead from what appeared to be two separate gunshot wounds, according to the MCSO.

The MCSO's Friday account of the events did not say where the gunshot wounds were on Chaney's body, but stated previously that Chaney had a gunshot wound to his leg they believed was from the gun fight with Naulty.

Chaney was wearing a military-style ballistic vest and was in possession of two assault rifles when he was found, according to the MCSO's Friday statement. A double-barreled shotgun was found inside the BMW which had been reported stolen in Eugene, Ore.

Investigators learned Chaney was wanted in connection with the stolen BMW and the kidnapping of two people. (As the Daily Journal reported previously, the two people were robbed at gunpoint and locked in the BMW's trunk, but escaped safely before Chaney drove out of their apartment complex's parking lot.) Also reported in the UDJ, Chaney was also a person of interest in a recent homicide in Oregon. According to the MCSO, all cases are being investigated by the Eugene Police Department.

The possible second suspect was found hiding inside a pump house building was an innocent bystander (see story this page) who had run from the scene for his own safety, according to he MCSO. Investigators determined Chaney was the only suspect connected to the shooting incident.

At the MCSO's request, the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office took over the investigation of the shooting, in keeping with the county's Officer Involved Fatal Incident protocol.

Deputy Del Fiorentino was a 26-year veteran of law enforcement, spending 10 years with the Fort Bragg Police Department and 16 years with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office during his career.

According to the Fort Bragg Advocate-News, a public memorial service is scheduled at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 26, at Cotton Auditorium, located at 500 N. Harold St., in Fort Bragg. A processional will leave the Ukiah fairgrounds at 7 a.m. and is expected to grow to around 400 vehicles by he time it reaches Fort Bragg around 8:30 a.m.